By Godwin Bamigboye.

On September 30, 2023, the Board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) led by Ibrahim Musa Gusau clocked one year in office.

As expected, the Football stewards gave account of their stewardship in the past 365 days out of the approximately 1444 days (4 years) they have been elected to serve. The days are indeed running very fast and very soon the 1444 days will be attained. On expiration of the days, Ibrahim Musa Gusau and his colleagues may be seeking the votes of the NFF Congress for another term in office. Will the Congress give Gusau and his colleagues another opportunity to serve? It is a bit too early for now. The process of having another opportunity to serve ideally is hinged on the stewardship of the servants (let me call them servant leaders). Do you prefer to call them Masters? Whatever you want to call them, I stick to calling them Servant-Leaders because therein lies the secret of success in human endeavours. 

Is the Ibrahim Musa Gusau led Board of the Nigeria Football Federation exhibiting the qualities of Servant-Leadership? Are they working according to the expectations of stakeholders? If you are told to do an assessment of their One Year of service, what will be your report? I guess, I will see positive evaluation from some people, I will objectivity, I will see constructive criticisms. I will also see some negative criticisms. When we aggregate the varieties of reports received, I believe we will arrive at a conclusion that will give us a fair assessment of the performance of the Nigeria Football Leaders.

It is good to see the President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Musa Gusau presenting the report card of the Federation at the end of One Year of the current Executive Board. Like the popular saying that "the Agama Lizard nods its head each time it falls from a height to praise itself even if it does not receive praise from anywhere". 
However, unlike the Agama Lizard that has no spectators or fans around to applaud its bravery and strength, Ibrahim Musa Gusau has received commendations from some respondents. I saw a few criticism. It is expected. "It is not yet over untill it is over". I guess you are used to this Football phrase. The result of a game cannot be determined untill it is over. Let us take a look at some of the statements made by the NFF President in the report card. I extracted some of the information from the report by *Joel Ajayi* .

 Alhaji Gusua vowed not to leave any stone unturned to ensure more growth and development for Football in the country.

Achievements of the past year, which included a first-ever podium finish at the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, quarter-final performance of the Flying Eagles at the FIFA U20 World Cup, qualification of the Super Eagles to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations and best-ever outing by the Super Falcons at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Gusau said that the Board and Secretariat have worked in tandem to remove toxicity from the system and enable a more conducive environment for the game in the country.

“One of our priorities on coming into office was to ensure that the football environment was cleansed of so much toxicity that had threatened the health of the game and made some persons feel unwelcome in the system. We have tried our best to give everyone a sense of belonging with a policy of inclusiveness. 

“Off the pitch, we are proud of the work of the Interim Management Committee that we constituted to organize the last NPFL League Season, which was commended by all stakeholders, and we also feel fulfilled about the constitution of the Boards of the NNL, NWFL, and NLO with vibrant, knowledgeable and competent individuals who are capable of taking the leagues to the next level. Elections into the State FAs have also been largely peaceful and successful.”

Gusau said his board will work assiduously and diligently with the secretariat and the Federal Ministry of Sports Development to see the Super Eagles off to a great start in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying series and to win the 34th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire early next year.

“We also want to see the Super Falcons reclaim their African title and return to the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. Our expectations include making good progress in our plan for hostel accommodation and some playing pitches for the National Teams, through the FIFA Forward 3.0 program, and also seeing that the U17 and U20 Women’s National Teams achieve their best-ever outings at their different World Cups next year.

“We are working already with the new NPFL Board to grow the NPFL into the product that all administrators and stakeholders desire, and also with the boards of the other Leagues to improve the state of our domestic football. To achieve all these, we need money, so we are also looking to work even harder to grow our revenue base through an aggressive marketing drive.” 

I guess you will applaud these achievement recorded in the first 365 days in office of the current NFF Board. Whichever way we look at it, there many more days ahead. There is room for improvement, growth, development, progress and success. 

Congratulations on the successes. Receive commendations for target you already set to achieve. Do not be overwhelmed by immediate achievement and lose focus of the tasks ahead. Let Gusau know that Spectator has properly saved this *Report Card* and labelled it *NFF Blueprint for Football Development.*

It is a loaded presentation and all should monitor the implementation of this blueprint.
I remain Spectator.